Demetrius the Silversmith

Demetrius the Silversmith was a Greek pagan silversmith from Ephesus. He made silver shrines of Artemis, but sales went down after Paul the Apostle converted most of the Ephesians to Christianity. In response, Demetrius called craftsmen from similar trades together and incited a riot against Paul, as he was angry that Paul had preached that manmade gods were no gods at all, and that the silversmith trade would lose its name and that Artemis and her temple would be discredited. The mob took Gaius of Ephesus and Aristarchus of Thessalonica captive, but a Roman official decided that the pagans had no cause to riot, as the Christians had not blasphemed or caused disorder.